Can the Toronto Raptors Survive Their Rigorous Road Trip?
Things have been great for Drake and the Toronto Raptors lately, as the rap star’s team has been arguably one of the better clubs in the league, let alone the Eastern Conference. Even without star scorer DeMar DeRozan, the offense has continued to operate at an efficient pace and really wreak havoc on opposing defenses.
The Raptors currently rank second in the NBA in points per game at 108.2, and are first in offensive rating at 115.4. This team is a powerhouse offensively, knowing how to operate in the half court and pick defenses apart from the inside out.
Kyle Lowry has been an absolute blessing for this squad at point guard, as his ability to penetrate and find teammates on the perimeter has been a huge reason why this team gets so many good looks.
His pick-and-roll game with Jonas Valanciunas has also been able to keep defenses off balance as he is a great threat at the rim himself.
Some players have certainly stepped up in DeRozan’s absence, but when he is at full strength again this team is going to be very scary when attempting to score the basketball.
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However, this team has still had its problems defensively, something that is going to hold the team back big time when they go on their brutal road trip in which they face the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors all in the span of a week.
The good news is that the Raptors will be very tough to stop on the offensive side of the ball because of the number of weapons they have at their disposal, including their array of talented big men that can stretch the floor and force the opposing team’s power forward to come away from the basket, opening up a lot of offensive rebounding opportunities for their guards that like to play bigger than they really are on the boards.
The bad news, however, is that despite the versatility on offense, they really do not have any bigs that can bang down low and be a true problem on the defensive end. Valanciunas is improving as a shot blocker and is a tough player himself, but he still lacks the knowledge on how to be a real dominant force down low.
A lot of times, Valanciunas will not see everything the offense is doing and will either miss a switch opportunity or fall for a move that he shouldn’t and send his man to the free throw line.
Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson can both block shots just like Valanciunas, but neither of them is the type of player that is going to go after big men like Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Kenneth Faried, LaMarcus Aldridge and Andrew Bogut.
This team is going to get beat up inside, which will really wear on a team that is going up against Western Conference offenses that are just as relentless as theirs.
Can their perimeter players hold their own defensively with the guards of the opposing teams? That will be a question as well, as the Raptors haven’t faced a lot of opposition in that regard from the rest of the East.
Tandems like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews are going to give Lowry and Terrence Ross problems, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep a defensive mentality throughout the entire trip.
Toronto has a lot of its best basketball to be played, but it may not come this next week, as any road trip out west is brutal for the Eastern Conference at this point. Being able to score points at a high level is always nice, but any team that struggles to defend at a high level is going to struggle away from their home court.
Just don’t be surprised if this is where the Raptors cool down a little bit.
*Statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.